Vehicles operated by internal combustion engines, such as cars and boats, have long used ignition for starting and stopping of the engine. Traditionally, ignition has required the turning of a key or pressing a button to initialize the firing process to start the engine, and then to cut the power to vehicle so the engine stops.
Recent developments in the automotive industry have led to technology that automatically turns the engine off when the car idles, such as at stop lights, to save fuel and energy and be more environmentally friendly. Similarly, some cars also include technology that turns the engine on automatically when the clutch and/or gas pedal is depressed (in manual transmission cars) or by releasing the brake (in automatic transmission cars), either of which may initiate the fuel injection process. Additional circumstances may be taken into account, such as the engine speed, transmission gear and/or speed, engine or coolant temperature, battery life, pedal positions (such as the gas pedal controlling fuel input or the clutch pedal controlling connection between the engine and transmission), and time intervals to account for stop-and-go traffic. Such considerations are made to allow the automatic starting and stopping of an engine to occur only when conditions are appropriate, such as to be able to distinguish between braking to reduce speed and braking at a stop light. Parameters for such considerations may be programmed into an electronic control unit (ECU) that electrically operates the various components of the vehicle.
Some marine vessels also include a system that controls automatic starting or stopping of a marine engine. For instance, U.S. Pat. No. 8,406,944 to Garon discloses a system for multiplexed engines that protects against unwanted starts. Sensors are provided in the engine and at the throttle handle to provide positional and operative information. The system permits automatic electronic starting of the engine only when both the engine and the control shift (i.e., throttle handle) are in the neutral position. This is consistent with other industry standards in which the throttle must be in neutral in order to start the engine. Such systems are therefore directed to controlling when engine start may occur by limiting it to a certain narrow window—when in neutral. This was largely seen as necessary for safety reasons.
However, these systems are restrictive in that they do not allow for ease of automatic starting or quick starting of engine(s), particularly in a marine setting. What is needed is a system that provides for quickly and automatically starting an engine(s), and doing so safely. Further systems for automatic shut-down of the engine(s) would also be beneficial, particularly in the marine setting.